Tinsel and the like and method for the manufacture thereof



Aug M, E928. HSB

W. H. SCHNEIDER TINSEL AND THE LIKE AND METHOD FOR THE MANUFACTUR THEREOF Filed Jan. l0, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l w. H.' SCHNEIDER TINSEL AND THE LIKE AND METHOD FOR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF Filed Jan. 1o, 1925 2' sheets-sheet 2 W S 'INI/KENoR.

A TTORNEYv Aug. i4, 192e.

STATES' WI E. SCHNEIDER, F HILW'Ucj i KOOTZ, OF MILWAU i1.- a.

t are.

, wisconsin, referencia To n, wisconsin.

umani; AND 'ran 'Lrxn AND mnrngon non wenn a r. t i

application mea January 1o, wat. amai no. 1,7m.

This invention relates to improvements in ltinsel and the like and methods for the manufacture thereof.

It is the primary object of this -invention to provide and produce novel and improved articles adapted for novel uses both decorative and practical and to eect economies whereby thenovel and improved articles embodying this invention may be made at considerably lower cost than such articles as have heretofore been used for corresponding purposes.

More specifically stated it is the object of this invention to produce a tinsel-like article in which the laterally and radially projecting strips or wire-like members are 1ntegrally joined to each other so that no precautions need be taken against the loss of such strips' from the central core, which usually comprises a twisted strand of string or wire.

It has been a general practice merely to twist short lengths of wire into the strands of two flexible core members comprising strings or the like. The positioning of the transverse strips or wires in these strands has usually depended solely upon friction. As a result the tinsel so made deteriorates rapidly and .does not long remain ornamental because of the loss of the individual strips or wires dependent upon friction for their positioning. It has been proposed to secure such strips or wires in place through the employment of some substance rendering such strips or wires adherent to the core an to each other. This, however, entails an extra operation increasing to some extent 'the cost of manufacture. rlhe present invention contemplates a construction in which the core and the transverse strips may all be integral, each with the other, and no twisted strands are necessary except in so far as the core may require re-enforcement or,

in soy far as the use of strips upon either side thereof may facilitate the twisting of that portion of the core which is integral with the strips as aforesaid. Thereby a perma- .nently enduring tinsel may be constructed at low expense. The articles produced in accordance with this invention are useful .for other purposes besides their-I utility as Christmas tree ornaments. l have found, for ex-y ample, that devices embodying this .inventon may be successfully 4employed 1n the manufacture of 'artificial Christmas trees and `are admirably suited for use as aerials for the reception of radio signaling. It is therefore an object of this invention to ,prof duce articles which will be suitable for the. addltional purposes above enumerated.

lt 1s a further object of this invention to provide for the application of color designs to tinsel. So far as I am aware colors heretofore applied to tinsel and the like have been applied by spraying or dipping and it has been impossible to produce any preconceived pattern on thetin'sel. `It is one off thepurposes of the present invention to provide .for the production of patterns of any.Y desired character upon the tinsel.

In the drawings: i

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating various stages in a method by which this invention may be practiced.A

Figure 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail taken on the section indicated at 3--3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail showing modifications,` of certain of the parts appearinin Figure 2.

igure 5 illustrates a further modication.

Figure 6 isan enlarged detail in side elevation of a fragment of tinsel or the like embodying this invention.

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a fragment of tinsel in various stages of manufacture illustrating the application of color in attern to one side of the strip from which t e tinsel is made whereby the pattern will appear on the finished tinsel.

Figure 8 is a detail view showing how my improved tinsel may be formed into a representation of the branch of an evergreen tree.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary vertical axial section through an. artificial tree incorporating the devices shown in Figure 8.

Figure 10 isa side elevation of a loop aerial embodying this invention.

Figure 11 is a detail view of a fragment of a preferred aerial construction showing the same in various stages of manufacture.

Like parts are identified by like reference charactersy throughout the several views.

llt will be understood that the machine illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 1 comprises no part of the subject matter of the present application and is merely lllustrated dit to indicate the method by which articles embodyingv this invention may be manufactured. Upon a bed 15 of the machine are.

mounted journal boxes 16 which support the trunnions 17 on the roll 20 of ribbon from which the tinsel is constructed in-accordance with this invention. The ribbon comprising roll 20 ma be made of pa er, cloth, or metallic foi or any other flexible and lightweight substance of the requisite tensile strength. Preferably aluminum .foil or copper foil is vused as the material for the ribbon comprising roll 20. If the tinsel is to be used for the purpose of ornamenting a Christmas tree the material of roll 20 will referably comprise aluminumv foil. If, however, electrical conductivity is desirable copper foil will preferably be used. Metallic foil has certain advantages over paper and the like in that it tends to retain its shape, being highly iiexible without being unduly resilient.

After the ribbon 25 leaves roll 20 it passes beneath a transfer roll 26 having peripheral ribs 27 and 28. The rolls 29 are in contact with ribs 27 and 28 and transmit thereto coloring pigment or dyes such as inks or the like.- The ribs 27 thereupon transmit the inks or paints to the web o r ribbon 25 upon which a design is imprinted according to the form of ribs 27 which, for the sake of` simplicity, are represented merely as Y printing straight lines of color 30.

The colored web is new fed across an anvil or stationary shear blade 32 which 1s apertured at 33. A vertical reciprocable knife or movable shear blade 35 is supported for movement to and from shear blade 32. The operative cutting edges 36 of the knife 35 are disposed at an obtuse angle with reference to each other and the movement of the knife is lsuch that as it descends it will cut into the margins of web 25 toward the center thereof to produce simultaneously cuts in each margin. The portion of the knife at the apex 37 of cutting margins 36 does not contact with thel web 25 so that a central uncut portion 38 remains after the knives have moved to their extreme downward osition. As indicated in Figure 2 the knife 35 may conveniently be actuated from a worm 39 through theworm gear 40, shaft 41, bevel gears 42, shaft 43, crank 44, and connecting rod 45. l

The-movable knife 35 is provided with 4an aperture 46 corresponding tothe aperture 33 of the lower shear blade 32. Cords or wires such as may comprise flexible tension members suitable for the purpose for which the completed article is intended are shown at 50 and 51 and pass respectively through apertures 46 and 33 whereby they are positioned above and below the central uncut portion of web 25.

A movable carriage 55 is guided for Leemans movement with reference to the bed 15 of the machine and carries a rotor 56 to which the ends of the flexible tension members 5Q and 51 are attached. The rotor 56 may conveniently be driven by a pinion 57 providing power through a worm shaft 58, and

worm gear 59 from the screw 39. The carriage will be moved in any suitable man ner along the bed of the machine in accrdance with the rapidit with which the web may be lfed between t e shear blades 35 and 32. As the carriage moves the rotor 56 is in operation to twist the flexible tension members 50 and 51 which, due to their proximity upon either side-of the uncut central portion. 38 of the web will result in twisting such portion `whereby the transverse elements desi nated generally at 60 andY produced by t e multilicity of lateral cuts in the web are turne to project at various radial angles fromthe central core lcomprising the imperforated strip 38 as re-enforced bythe tension members 50f and 51.

Where foil is used, it is well for practical purposes to employ the tension members 50 and 51. The method may be practiced,'how ever, without such members where the material. of which the tinsel is constructed has adequate tensile strength it is only necessaryto fasten the end of the uncut portion 38 of such material to the rotor 56 or otherwise to twist the material to the desired extent. It should be understood that members 50 and 51 serve only as re-enforcing means and as a `convenient means for applying twisting or torsional ressure to extremely light-weight material such as foil or the like, particularly where such material has low tensile strength.

For the pur oses of illustration the web is Jillustrated in Figure 1 as issuing from the shears 37 and 32 in the plane ribbon. As a matter of fact, however, with the rotor 57 in operation the torsional e'ect thereof will be transmitted throu h the ribbon as far as the shears themse ves work. Any further torsional effect is arrested due to the fact that the flexible tension members 50 and 51 are there guided through apertures 46 and 33.

After the torsional effect upon the slitted web has continued for a short space of time the laterally projecting strip portions of the web produced b cutting into the margins thereof will be nt torsionally to take the form of a screw thread with serrated marins as is generally 'indicated in Figure 1. ventually, however, if the torsioning operation is continued the pitch of the imaginary thread represented by the extremities of the laterally rejecting strips will become so slight and) the strips will become so displaced that the visual effect of the thread will no longer exist and the article will appear as shown in Figure 6, the individual iai llt

strips extendin in all directions radially from the centra core.

The article is now completed for use as tinsel ornaments and by reason of the printing thereon of color'bands 30 each of the several strips 60 will carry such bands upon one of its faces whereby to present alternating colored and uncolored light reecting surfaces in a somewhat symmetrical pattern. The symmetry of the pattern will depend somewhat upon the extent to which twisting or torsion is carried. lf the material is not twisted tothe extent indicated in Figure 6 and is only twisted sufficiently so that the members. 60 are disposed in the path of an imaginary screw thread as is indicated in Fi ure 7, the completed article will have hellcal bands of color arranged on symmetrically disposed radially projecting strips.

lf trian lar webs are fed through the machine a ove described the result will be a tapering tinsel such as'that shown in Figure 8 1n which the laterally projecting strips are of graduall decreasing length from one end to the ot er of the completed article. lt' the core of such a device is reenforced b tensile members 50 and 51 constructed o wire the article will have sufficient vrigidity so that the wire core may he thrust into suitable sockets in an articial tree trunk 7l to simulate the branches 72 of the tree. Very realistic ed'ects are produced thereby particularly if the material of which the tinsel is constructed is green in color. Such material may comprise dyed or painted paper or metallic foil.

ln Figure l() l have illustrated a veryimportant application of this invention to the field of radio signaling. Figure 10 shows a loo aerial having a base 75, a frame 76, an binding posts 77. About the frame 76 is wound a length of such material as that indicated in Figure 6 or, preferably, a length of the material illustrated in Figure ll and hereinafter to be described. The material is suitably connected at its ends to the individual binding posts 77 and, by reason'of its comparatively enormous surface area and the great amount of space which it occupies considering its weight, it is fparticularly suitable for use as a collector o radio signals.

While ordinary tinsel is sometimes metallic in character it has never so far as l am aware had a continuous metallic path from' one end to the other. The fact that in'my improved tinsel the laterally projecting strips l60 are integral with the continuously extending unslitted central portion 38 comprising the core makes possible the practical employmentof this improved tinsel for aerial purposes.

In Figure 1l the web 25 is illustrated prior to the slitting operation at the lower art of the figure and in the central part ofp the gure is shown to have been slitted inwardly from its margins to provide the narrow laterally extendm strips 60 already described. Frior to te slitting operation however, the web intended for service as an aer1al will referably be 1re-enforced centrally by stitc ing 80 which extends longitudinally and centrally of the web and, upon the completion `of the slitting operation, will be isposed centrally of t e uncut ortion 38 of the web. The material of which the stitches 80 are formed may com rise avery small gage copper or other con uctive wire or, due to the fact that ortion 38 of the device is continuous an conductive, the stitches may even be taken with non-conductive material such as thread or string. Freterably, however, they will be of wire and will have adequate tensile strength to prevent the aerial from becoming broken by high winds when it is used out of doors. The stitches connect all portions ofthe aerial electricall as well as mechanically so that even shoul 'the foil or -other conductive substance employed as web 25 become torn or broken the electrical connection would nevertheless remain complete. through the wire used to form the stitches 80.

The device intended for use as an aerial may conveniently be sold in the form in whlch it appears in the central ortion et Figure ll` and may thereupon e twisted by the urchaser. lt is obviously more easily han led in its dat form than in its twisted form and it may very readily be twisted as shown in the upper portion of Figure ll from which the laterally projecting strips (i0 have'been omittedfor purposes of illustration.

lt will be obvious that a very small amount of copper or other electrical conductive material by weight may be made in accordance with this invention to present an extremely great amount of surface to the air and may occupy a considerable volume of space when twisted. These characteristics increase its serviceability as a radio aerial far above that of an ordinary wire of equal weight so that a relatively small quantity of the aerial material above described may be used upon a loop frame such as that shown at 76 with comparatively great effectiveness.

Figures d and 5 merely show additional forms of knives which may be employed in practicing this invention. lin Fi re 4 the shear blades 35 and 32 dider tgrdm those heretofore disclosed principally in the tact that they are notched at 33 and d6 instead of being provided with the holes previously described. The shear blade in Fi re 5 is distinguished by the fact that it wlll cut or slit one margin only of the web 25 fed therebeneath. It has been found that a web having one margin cut and made of foil or other similar conductive material has an orna- Uil ltllll Ystrips laterally projectin mental value and a value *for aerial' puroses second only to that of the articles her@-y in first describe ll claim:

l. The method of manufacturing tinsel comprising the slitting of the web inwardly from its side mar 'ns leaving a continuous central portion of the web unslitted, the application to such portion of lre-enforcing tensile members and the twisting of such members whereby to twist said central portion.

2. As a new article of manufacture a tinsel including a central core, radially projecting stri s connected therewith and coloring matter isposed on said'strips in a predetermined pattern including a line extending transversely of successive strips and coinprising coloring' matter disposed on corresponding contiguous ortions of successive strips, another part 0 each such strip being of a different color.

3. 'lhe method of manufacturing tinsel comprising the a plication to a web of material of aiand o? coloring pigment having a component of direction longitudinally of said web, the slitting of the web inwardly from the side margins toward its center, whereby to separate from each other narrow strips laterally projectin from a central core and interconnected t rough said core with each other, said band of color extending across the corresponding portions of a l plurality of said strips.

l. rllhe method of manufacturing tinsel comprising ythe application to a web of material of: a band of coloring pigment having a component of direction longitudinally of said web, the slitting of the web inwardly from vthel side margins toward its center, whereby to separate from each other narrow from a central core and interconnected t rough said core with each other, said band of color extending across the corresponda portions of a plurality of said strips, an subsequently twisting said core to leave said strips projecting therefrom at a variety of radial angles whereby said band of color will follow a helical path across consecutive strips.

5. As a new article of manufacture a tinsel comprising integrally a continuous central ortion, strips projecting laterially there- "rom and opposed tensile members reinforcing said central portion upon opposite sides thereof and twisted to support said strips at a variety of radial angles.

6. The method of producing a tinsel having a predetermined pattern in color applied to the variously directed strips thereof, such method including a deposit of pigment in predetermined pattern vupon a web of suitable material, the slitting of said web to rovide strips suitable vfor tinsel and the su sequent twisting of said strips between opposing tensile members to project them at a variety of angles, whereby predetermined portions of the variously angled strips in 'the completed product may be colored in accordance with a predetermined plan.

7. The method of manufacturing tinsel comprising the slitting of a web. of material inwardly from its side margins leaving a continuous central portion of the web unslitted, placing a pair of wires one upon each side of said unslitted portion of the web," and twisting together the unslitted portion of the web and wire, whereby to project radially about the twisted portion of said tinsel the slitted margins of said web.

8. As a new article of manufacture a tinsel comprising a web of material having strips projecting laterially of the web, and a pair of wires one upon each side of said web, said web and wires being twisted together, whereby the strips project radially about said twisted web and wires.

-WlLL SCHNEIDER. 

